When is the best period of the year to buy a Spanish property ?

and how good investment is a Spanish property ?

Question from an American reader:

We live in the USA and would be interested in buying an apartment
as an investment in Spain to rent it, on the Costa del Sol or on the Costa Brava,
wherever you can rent better. Could you let me know the loan interest rates,
taxes ? And when is the best time to buy ? Winter or spring for better deals ?

I have no experience where you can rent better, but
I believe it is Costa Brava, because of the proximity of France: French do rent
much more than they buy.

To the prices mentioned in the Spanish property catalogue,
you should add 10% for taxes, notary, etc. Actually it should be slightly less than
10%, but with that figure, you are on the safe side. In the case of a mortgage, interest
rates amount to about 5%. Yearly taxes on properties are very low: some one percent of
the price you have paid.

There is no best season to buy as far as prices are
concerned, but considering the conveniences, there is a bad one: from 15th of June
until 15th of September, most of the properties for sale are rented, and thus
difficult to visit.

All in all, the rentability (r.o.i.) of such an
operation turns around 4%. It is not very much, but it is quite a safe investment.
Additionally, if your property has been well selected, you should cash a good
increment value on the long term.